Saved By The Damned
by Master of The Blood Wolves
Summary: By refusing the Catalyst's proposed solutions, Shepard damned the galaxy to extinction. But in humanity's darkest hour, aid comes unlooked for and unannounced, in the form of spectral warriors clad in armour adorned with images of death. Alternate ending for Mass Effect 3.


**Saved By The Damned**

Commander Shepard watched as the energy that had been building within the Crucible winked out of existence and felt the weight of the galaxy he had just condemned come crashing down upon him.

He fell to his knees.

What had he done?

The Catalyst had laid bare the workings of the Crucible and none of its functions had been what he'd fought so hard for.  
The one thing he had wanted since the start of this war was to erase the Reapers from existence.  
The Illusive Man's idiotic idea of controlling the evil things had been foolish from the start and the Catalyst's suggestion that he sacrifice himself so that everyone,-organic and synthetic,-might live in harmony with those _abominations_ was unthinkable.

But to find out, after Legion had sacrificed himself to give the Geth true sentience and after making peace between the Quarians and their synthetic creations, that to destroy the Reapers would result in the deaths of not just them, but EDI, the Geth and himself…

He couldn't do it.

Just like with the Rachni on Noveria and in their hiding place, he couldn't damn an entire race.

So instead he'd damned them all.

'What have I done?' He whispered to himself.

'You denied the machines control over you.' The voice was grave and deep as a Krogans', but undeniably human…or close to.

Shepard stood again and turned warily…

…And found himself staring into the visage of a half-shattered helmet and the bone-pale face beneath.  
It's owner stood head and shoulders above Shepard and was clad in black armour adorned with bones and wreathed in spectral fire.  
A book was crucified open on it's left pauldron, which was the size of his head, while it's other was adorned with a ribcage.  
It held a staff adorned with a double-headed eagle in its right hand while its left held the biggest hand cannon Shepard had ever seen.

'What…Who are you?' He asked.  
_Who and what I am is none of your concern. However know me as His Vengeance…the last Epistolary of the Legion of the Damned._ The voice came not from the apparition's mouth, but from all around. _This was the final battle for your soul, Shepard. You denied these vile things, but now the hour grows dark…Your allies need a hero…and an army that does not fear death!_

The interior of the Crucible faded and Shepard found himself back before the beam, linking Earth and the Citadel.

Unlike when he'd awoken previously, his armour wasn't damaged beyond repair…it _was _badly damaged but he wasn't nearly as badly injured as he had been.  
Then it hit him that he'd nearly been indoctrinated, at the exact same time he became aware of Admiral Hackett shouting and what sounded like an automatic grenade launcher.

He looked to where the Reaper that had decimated Hammer had landed and saw it toppled on it's side with a gaping hole burned straight through it and all about he could also see more apparitions like the 'Epistolary' he'd glimpsed in his mind.

'Admiral…' Shepard croaked, 'what's going on?'  
_+'Shepard! We fired the Crucible and the biggest goddamn ship I've ever seen appeared out of some sort of anomaly, it's destroying the Reapers single handed!'+ _Hackett replied, shouting for joy. _+'Blast 'em to ash you beautiful, giant bastard!'+  
__+'That's not all, Admiral we've got mysterious eight-foot giants in black armour and wreathed in corposant decimating Reaper ground forces!'+ _Reported Anderson, further proving to Shepard that his memory of the Crucible was an attempt at indoctrination.

A shadow loomed above Shepard and a huge black, bone-adorned gauntlet entered his vision, and beyond it a half-shattered helmet and a bone white face.  
Shepard accepted the hand up and swayed as the giant released its grip.  
It reached to a holster at its side and withdrew the hand-cannon Shepard had seen in the hallucination, then reversed it's grip and offered it to Shepard.

Oblivious to the fact that he was the only being in the material universe to ever communicate with a Legionnaire, in any way, Shepard heard the voice again.  
_The Emperor protects, Commander… Do not waste this second chance we give your galaxy._

'I won't.' Shepard vowed, mag-locking his newly acquired pistol to his hip.

Then, in a flash, the being was gone.

* * *

Admiral Steven Hackett wept unashamed tears of joy as he watched the massive ship,-the _Dominus Astra_, as it had emblazoned on its side,-single-handedly tearing the Reapers a new exhaust port.

Lance upon lance of blinding ruby light destroyed a Reaper or two per shot and it's shields were soaking up ridiculous amounts of firepower.

_But, it's just one ship. How can we engineer these sorts of weapons when we're under such pressure from the-  
_The Admiral never finished the thought, because the back end of the Crucible had just detonated, sending a massive blast of light in all directions.

Every Reaper it touched was annihilated, while other vessels were left unharmed by it.

No one knew that every one who'd worked on the Crucible had believed wholeheartedly that it would bring about the Reapers' end and that they'd unknowingly poured all their hatred, disgust and righteous anger at the machines into it and when the warp-gate they'd unwittingly built had overloaded like it had been designed to, this overriding desire had become manifest.

As this happened, the _Dominus Astra_ winked out of existence at the same time as the Damned Legionnaires upon Terra.

The warp-pulse entered the relay network as the reinforcements it had spewed forth vanished and lanced throughout the galaxy, purging the Reapers from existence the galaxy over.

* * *

Back on Earth, Shepard fell to his knees with tears in his eyes as Reaper forces converging on his position exploded like mechanical popcorn.

They'd won.

* * *

Meanwhile, back aboard the _Dominus Astra_, the ship's CO made the sign of the Aquila to his new passengers.

The crew had been exposed to the same deadly influence as the Legionnaires, so now they were a part of the Legion's support fleet.

Without asking and without being told, the ship's Commander set course to another system and another hopeless war.

**One might deduce from this one-shot that I was most dissatisfied with how Mass Effect 3 ended.**

**You'd be right and this little scenario just seemed like a better all-around idea than what Bioware gave us, even with the Extended Cut and yes, I do believe the Indoctrination Theory has still got a lot going for it.**

**On another note, I'm still alive and writing, so see you when next I update one of my other stories.**


End file.
